GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers will enter their Thanksgiving showdown at the Detroit Lions in a precarious space in the NFC playoff race.Almost nothing changed in Week 12. While the Los Angeles Rams vaulted over the Philadelphia Eagles and into first place in the race for homefield advantage in the NFC, everybody else in the top eight in the conference won. That means the Packers, just like last week, remain a half-game behind the Chicago Bears for first place in the NFC North but just a half-game ahead of the Lions for the final playoff berth.Here are the latest NFC standings entering Week 13. NFC Playoff Standings1. Los Angeles Rams (first place, NFC West): 9-22. Philadelphia Eagles (first place, NFC East): 8-33. Chicago Bears (first place, NFC North): 8-34. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (first place, NFC South): 6-55. Seattle Seahawks (second place, NFC West): 8-36. Green Bay Packers (second place, NFC North): 7-3-17. San Francisco 49ers (third place, NFC West): 8-4- - -8. Detroit Lions (third place, NFC North): 7-49. Carolina Panthers (second place, NFC South): 6-610. Dallas Cowboys (second place, NFC East): 5-5-113. Atlanta Falcons (third place, NFC South): 4-711. Minnesota Vikings (fourth place, NFC North): 4-712. Arizona Cardinals (fourth place, NFC West): 3-814. Washington Commanders (third place, NFC East): 3-815. New Orleans Saints (fourth place, NFC South): 2-916. New York Giants (fourth place, NFC East): 2-9State of the NFCIt’s really an eight-team race for seven playoff spots. As much as the 49ers tried to hand the game to Carolina on Monday night, the Panthers refused their generosity. So, there’s a two-game divide between the seventh-place 49ers and ninth-place Panthers.The Lions are in eighth place in the NFC. As much as this is a big game for Green Bay, it’s an enormous game for Detroit.“It’s definitely a tougher week, but it’s just part of it,” receiver Christian Watson said. “I’ve tended to enjoy these types of game and this type of atmosphere and everything we’re playing for and the excitement leading up to it. It’s tougher to get your body back and your mind right with the quick turnaround, but I enjoy it.”If The Season Were to End Today …Same as last week, the sixth-place Packers would play at the third-place Bears in the wild-card round.The Packers will host Chicago next week and play at Chicago two weeks later. If these teams were to meet in the playoffs, it would mark their third matchup in six weeks.“It’s extremely important,” Micah Parsons said after Sunday’s game, “especially I think we have the best division in football right now. Like by far. It’s the best division in football. Every win matters and this stretch of division games is going to matter for playoffs, whether we have home games, seeding, whatever. What you guys see last year, it’s crazy. It’s going to be competitive as hell and the fact that we got two of them [division wins], we’re on the right path.”Strength of ScheduleThe Packers will have to earn their way into the playoffs. According to Tankathon, Green Bay faces the toughest remaining schedule in the NFL with an opponent combined winning percentage of .636. The Packers will face only one team with a losing record, which is Week 18 at the Vikings.The Bears have the third-toughest remaining schedule and the Lions have the fourth-toughest schedule.Are the Bears for real? We’re about to find out. Chicago’s eight wins have come against teams with a combined 27.5 wins. Its next two games are at Philadelphia and at Green Bay, who have won 15 games.Packers Playoff ChancesAccording to ESPN’s Football Power Index, the Packers have an 80.0 percent chance of reaching the playoffs. That’s up slightly from 77.9 percent last week.The Packers have a 44.8 percent chance of winning the NFC North, up slightly from last week’s 44.1 percent. That’s ahead of the Lions (31.6 percent) and Bears (23.5 percent).According to The Athletic’s Playoff Simulator, Green Bay’s playoff probability based on 100,000 simulations is 83 percent. That’s up from 75 percent last week. Its NFC North chances jumped from 35 percent to 48 percent after beating Minnesota.As you’d expect, this will be a huge game for Green Bay. Based on 4,000 simulations, a victory over the Lions would give the Packers a 94 percent chance of reaching the playoffs and a 68 percent chance of winning the division. With a loss, the Packers would have a 73 percent chance of qualifying for the playoffs and a 30 percent chance of winning the division.According to Next Gen Stats, the NFC North-leading Bears have a 61 percent chance of reaching the playoffs. The Packers, who are in second place in the North and sixth place in the NFC, and the Lions, who are in third place in the North and in eighth place in the NFC, have 76 percent chances.According to Playoff Status, Green Bay’s playoff chances remain unchanged at 63 percent. To win the North, the Bears are at 47 percent (up from 41 percent last week), the Packers are 29 percent (down from 31 percent) and the Lions are 23 percent (down from 26 percent).At Pro Football Focus, the Packers have a 79.9 percent chance of reaching the playoffs.At FanDuel Sportsbook, the Packers’ odds to reach the playoffs shortened a bit from -350 to -375. By implied probability, that means the Packers went from a 77.8 percent chance of qualifying to 79.0 percent.The NFC North odds at FanDuel changed a bit. Last week, Green Bay was a slight favorite at +140, followed by Detroit at +150 and Chicago at +300. Now, Green Bay is +130, Detroit is +170 and Chicago is +260.The Packers are 2.5-point underdogs this week.SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE DAILY PACKERS NEWSLETTERMore Green Bay Packers News